Fall of the House of Valor

by direbadgerbard

A more realistic take on the popular universe centering in a new region. How do you handle a society that has already established its culture? How do you change a world that already sees itself only the one way? There will always be victims and victors, but to whom should the spoils go to? Where will Otter, Rabbit and Fox stand; victors or victims of the system?

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Otter was lounging on lapras' back as the coast swept by, the spring afternoon was warm and soporific. She stilled grinned happily at the success of the last two months, more so when she heard from Rabbit yesterday. A picture had come in on Otter's phone of Rabbit taking a selfie with her little team of four. Haunter was floating over her head making a face at the camera and a tiny little nidoran almost as small as Otter's eevee when they first set out was perched on one shoulder, ponyta was curled alongside Rabbit's right side and the squirtle was seated happily in her lap. Otter had saved it and set it as her background. After the sun began to set Lapras and Otter pulled up on a lonely stretch of beach.

They would make the next city and her first gym the next day around noon if her atlas was any indicator. She would take a few days, wander around the trainer's park and engage in some battles to get ready amongst her peers. Setting up the tent, she let out her Pokémon for the night. Setting down their food, Lapras hung by close at hand near the water's edge. Growlithe, eevee and Precious were chasing pidgey down the beach; Otter watching them from stolen glances as she read from a new book. Lapras was tired but happy, resting peacefully. Eevee after two months had started her maturation process, the fur was lightening from brown, yellowish blonde fur was slowing starting to take over and the sharp needle like hairs were beginning to grow. She was nearing growlithe in size and almost unable to hide herself in Otter's jacket or perch on her shoulder.

Giving a whistle to attract growlithe's attention, Otter called him over. Precious, tired of the game, wandered over to see what Otter wanted. With the Persian's help, they dug a deep trench leading down to the water. The ocean filled it in readily and Lapras was able to swim up right alongside the tent. With a happy croon, Lapras settled in for the night. Otter readjusted the chair to be closer the trench they had dug.

As night fell, Otter set up a fire pit and growlithe spit an ember to light it. The stars above came out in force and she leaned her chair back to watch them come out. The Pokémon curled up against her and Lapras stretched her neck out to reach them. Lapras sang a pleasant melody that soothed and gradually lulled the others to sleep. Otter awoke when the fire died completely and a chill western breeze struck her. Moving into the tent she wrapped a blanket around herself and sensing she had moved, her Pokémon followed her into the tent. Piling on top or alongside her, Otter was soon quite cozy but unable to close the tent. If Lapras needed her though, she could at least see into the tent.

When the sun rose the next day Otter got ready and began decamping for the day. Lapras had swum out with the tide and was waiting for them, she obviously had snapped up some food from the sea as she wasn't begging for more like growlithe often times did. Once everyone was packed and ready, they sped down the coast. Lapras must have sensed Otter's excitement and was swimming at a faster pace than ordinary. Occasionally the spray would splash up and surprise Otter and eevee but it was enjoyable. Brill Harbor came in sight, there were two paths; one for trainers arriving by sea and one for the boats coming in. She gave Lapras a tap and the Pokémon turned towards the trainer path. Along the length of the beach, krabby and kingler scuttled about. Otter found a dock where she could put in and Lapras was doted upon before being returned to her pokeball.

Otter took a towel from her pack and dried off the damp little eevee. There was a standing desk on the dock and she pulled out the atlas. The park was near a Pokémon Center and she walked up to the street. Unclipping her bike from her pack Otter began the four-and-a-half-mile ride from the docks. Once she arrived at the park, she began looking at the registry at the entrance. A few of the trainers registered had some Pokémon that were more than likely too much of a match for her little team. There were other starter teams registered though that would be good to pit her eevee against.

"Are you ready eevee? Let's find you a good match." Otter scratched under her partner's chin.

She registered her team, including her Lapras, most parks had a place where the water Pokémon could be used in battle. Eevee was made team lead, Otter wanted to build her up and get her ready to take on a gym. Out of all the Pokémon in Merifos, eevee was the strangest, their physiology reacted to the radiation of three different stones that instigated a maturation process rather than going through a natural maturation phase like her growlithe would grow into or like Persian had gone through. Science had yet to fully explain the stones and while not rare, they certainly were not easy to come by. Her family, thankfully as breeders, had collected a decent sized stock of the stones. Her own eevee had a collar with the yellow "thunder stone" as some called it, set into the center of it opposite from the clasp. She entered her phone number and waited for an alert to come in.

At the trainers' park w/ the team, going to work with eevee some. She seems excited Otter shot a message into the group chat she had made for Rabbit, Fox and her.

Fox hadn't been responding to the other messages since he had left that note but Rabbit had always been enthusiastic to receive her messages. Otter hoped he had at least been reading the messages, he had seen them, that much she knew. The ellipses had shown that he had started typing a response when the girls had sent each other selfies of their teams. Otter only wished he would let them in, she was worried about some of the things that he had written in the note. An alert came in letting her know an opponent was ready in section eighty-two B.

Riding her bike down the trail, Otter followed the markers to where her opponent waited. The battlefield was ringed by a wide and deep creek, with a bridge crossing over it into the trainers ring. Other than that it was a flat grassy field with no terrain advantages one way or another. Otter's opponent was a ragged looking trainer who looked like he had spent more time further afield than she had. The wind caught it just right and by the smell of him, he hadn't even attempted to bathe in the time he had spent abroad. Otter's eyes watered, she could forfeit the match but cancelling the first one to wait for another meant a longer wait. Crossing the bridge, she gave him a wave and tried breathing through her mouth.

Eevee gave a tiny growl of from her perch in Otter's jacket. The little Pokémon was surprisingly ready leaving Otter nervous. She shook that off though, these matches weren't terribly serious and the Pokémon center was just down on the other side of the park. Eevee leapt out of the jacket and stood in front of Otter in a ready stance.

Silently her opponent threw down a pokeball that revealed a mankey that looked quite grumpy and it glared back at the trainer. Otter suspected the trainer had yet to completely earn the Pokémon's trust.

"The name is Hank; standard rules, three versus three?" Otter's opponent introduced himself.

"That's what I'm here for, the name is Otter." She responded trying not to breathe too deeply.

"Let our match begin then." Hank crossed his arms in a familiar stance.

"Did you watch that Fox v. Kaydin match up in Pine Coast City too?" Otter asked suppressing the urge to snicker. That pose looked preposterous on any but Fox.

"Uh, yea, I've been following all of Fox's matches. Someday, I'll meet him and win a match against him. Why?" Hank narrowed his eyes.

"I had a friend who stood exactly like that." Otter shrugged.

"Where are you from?"

"Matpa Town."

Hank connected the dots before letting out a barking laugh. Shaking his head, he gave the signal to start the match. The mankey made the first move lunging at eevee with a pair of cross chops that forced her eevee to dodge nimbly out of the way. With a quick attack she knocked the mankey off balance. Point blank Otter's eevee hit the mankey with a flurry of swift motes that slammed into it causing a plethora of minute explosions. The mankey staggered but spun aiming to strike the eevee with a low kick. Eevee hopped over its leg before leaping onto the mankey's head before leaping off. With enough distance to pick up speed, Otter's eevee tackled the mankey pushing it back before letting another flurry of swift motes. To Otter's delight her eevee was giving more than she was taking. The mankey was not well trained and it began to swing wildly, disobeying the commands from its trainer.

Otter didn't need to command her Pokémon, like Fox, she had their trust and believed they would know better than she what they were capable of. She had to withhold a gasp as one of the mankey's paws grazed her eevee's shoulder. Eevee continued to dodge, not out of purely defensive reasons but out of tactical observation and waiting for the right opportunity. Eevee found one and bit down hard on the mankey's tail after having gotten around its wild thrashing. With a strong tug of her head, eevee flung the mankey into the creek alongside the battlefield. Mankey could not swim well forcing Hank to withdraw his Pokémon and call his first match against Otter a loss.

"That eevee was stronger than I was expecting, must be one of those eevees from that family in Matpa Town."

"You aren't wrong Hank, I'll keep her out for the next match, choose your second." Otter grinned happily.

A pinsir was released onto the field and it clacked its jaws shut with a mighty snap. Eevee could handle this as well. Otter was certain of that after the last bout. Eevee looked back at her trainer who nodded. With a tiny growl, eevee chose not to wait for the pinsir to make the first move and her flurry of swift moving motes struck the pinsir in the face. The bug type barely flinched from the attack and it struck out trying to catch eevee in the vice like grip of its pincers. Eevee dodged but barely taking a scratch along her leg in the exchange. Otter's breath caught in her throat. Eevee set her paw down, testing her weight on it before tackling the pinsir from behind. Getting up on its back, eevee bit down with more force than the mankey at the base of the pinsir's pincer. Cracks appeared on the exoskeleton and the pinsir reached up and threw the eevee from it.

Eevee landed wrong on her already hurt leg and whimpered slightly. Hearing her partner's pain, Otter recalled her eevee before she got hurt worse. She sent out growlithe as a replacement and the match continued. When Otter bent down to check on eevee, she whispered quietly to the growlithe. The little fire puppy grinned happily in response and bounded across the field in an attempt to take down the pinsir in one move. Hank's pinsir grabbed the growlithe and threw him across the field. Growlithe landed nimbly and spat embers at the pinsir, inciting panic in the bug. These Pokémon Hank was using were not well trained at all, Otter noted; even if her Pokémon faced a stronger opponent, they wouldn't panic like this.

Growlithe circled the panicking pinsir, flames licking at the corners of his mouth. A fire filled bite latched onto the opponent's leg. Growlithe shook his head viciously throwing the pinsir across the ring. As pinsir stood back up, growlithe pounced on pinsir taking it back down. Hank withdrew his pinsir before it got hurt worse and sent out a kingler. Otter called growlithe back, not wanting to run at a deficit with the type advantage to Hank. She sent out Precious, Otter hadn't learned what other moves her Persian knew apart from hyper beam; given how strong Precious seemed it was best not to push the Pokémon to perform. She trusted the Persian to handle himself in a fight and she was looking forward to finding out.

Precious stalked towards the kingler slowly, dark energy roiling from his front paws. Otter grinned, knowing that could be useful depending on the gyms she went up against. The kingler held its oversized left claw as a shield scuttling carefully to keep the circling Persian in sight. The large feline was faster though and it darted in, swiping with its claws coated in thick gobs of shadow. Persian's claws scraped harshly against the shell causing both trainers to wince. Kingler swung his claw like a hammer trying to catch the other Pokémon in the grip but Persian easily dodged it. Putting distance between his opponent, Precious' fur bristled and a sense of electricity filled the air as a bolt of lightning ripped up the ground striking the kingler full on. It staggered but remained standing as a gout of water sprayed from its mandibles soaking the Persian completely but doing little damage to the strong Pokémon. Energy built up around Precious as it tackled kingler with a tremendous impact staggering the Pokémon further. Before Precious could get away, kingler latched onto the persian's leg. The sharp claw bit into the leg but Precious looked more annoyed than injured, a thought that kept the genuine worry at bay and let Otter know he was still okay. Rather than trying to get away from the Pokémon and break the kingler's grip. Otter watched as light began to coalesce in the Persian's maw before unleashing a hyper beam point blank and knocking the kingler out of the ring into the water. Otter smiled as her Persian sauntered towards her and began slowly grooming himself.

"Thank you for the match Hank, I hope you get the chance to face off against Fox someday." Otter was sincere but she had a hard time keeping a similar smug look off her face.

"You're going to be an amazing trainer, how long have you had that Persian for?" Hank exhaled after retrieving his kingler.

"Two months and some days now."

"Are there any other Matpa Town trainers I need to know about?" Hank exhaled, the scent of his breath causing Otter and Precious to flinch.

"You might find out." Otter taunted.

"I hope your eevee is alright, have a great day." Hank walked off in the direction of the Pokémon center.

Otter took the time to check over Precious while he groomed himself. He obviously wasn't hurt terribly. She called eevee back out and pulled her first aid kit from the pack, the wound didn't appear too terrible but the flesh underneath the fur looked bruised. Eevee didn't seem to have a broken leg but it was still tender. Otter carefully wrapped it and though she had three other Pokémon that were capable of continuing, this was supposed to be for eevee. She started to leave but eevee growled at her.

"You want to keep going? I know you are strong sweetheart but you don't need to push yourself." Otter chided the little eevee and only received a gentler growl in response. "Fine, but the moment I see you getting tired, you are going back into your pokeball and we are going straight to the Pokémon center."

Precious gave eevee's bandage a sniff and nodded sagely at Otter's words. Eevee nipped at the Persian's nosed but he just huffed and went back to grooming himself. This was their field until the next trainer beat them and they lasted three more matches after that until Otter's team was worn out and ready for dinner. First stop was the Pokémon center though to have eevee checked over. The nurse there checked over eevee specifically before turning to the rest of the team.

"I must say, your eevee is in peak condition in another three to four months, she should reach the end of her maturation phase. Your growlithe will be about the same, being such a fast growing species while your Lapras and Persian are perfect specimens though the Persian doesn't appear to like anyone but you. Did you raise him yourself?" The nurse asked.

"Actually no, the eevee is one that I've raised since it was born, I'm from the breeder family in Matpa Town you see. Precious I've only recently adopted from a pokéshelter and I am glad that I did. His matches today in the park were amazing, going into the first one I only knew one move that he was capable of. I learned the rest after that." Otter was still proud of the way her entire team fought and Precious was proving himself to be a solid anchor.

"This is that Persian? The shelter there in Narl Ood has been contacting police stations and Pokémon centers trying to find a home for him. I am glad to see that he has found one. Oh, here we go, your eevee is all set; give her a day to rest before you take on the gym here. Have a great night, there's a Pokémon lodge on the west entrance of the park. We hope to see you again." The nurse bade Otter farewell and went back to her nightly activities.

Taking the nurse's suggestion, Otter set off once more into the park. The sun had set and zubats could be heard in their chittering cries across the night sky. The stars in the city were muted with only what felt like a handful being able to be seen in stark comparison to her last two months. She carried her eevee while she let growlithe and Precious walk along beside her. She doubted any thief would try to steal from her under the watchful eyes of either Pokémon. Tomorrow she would issue the challenge to the gym while eevee was resting in her room at the lodge. The day after that would be her matches against the three trainers that studied under the gym leader and the next day from that would be the gym leader specifically.

We're ready for our first gym, issuing the challenge tomorrow. Hope you're doing well out there. Otter sent into the group chat.

… Fox was apparently beginning a message before he stopped and the ellipsis vanished. Otter sighed, but brightened visibly when Rabbit's typing began.

My challenge starts tomorrow at three in the afternoon, are you going to watch? Rabbit's message came in practically beaming with hope that Otter would say yes.

I wouldn't miss it for the world. Otter responded, truly meaning it.

I'm proud of you both, I have time to watch both of your challenges. Fox sent, surprising them both. Followed by a selfie of his team that someone else must have had to take.

He was sitting on venusaur's back under the shade of the massive flower, gyarados curled around them with dragonite reclining against venusaur's side by gyarados' tail with the head of gyarados on the right. Ninetales sat regally under the gyarados and sandshrew sat on Fox's lap. The Pokémon looked happy but Fox's smile didn't quite meet his eyes, something both Otter and Rabbit noticed but would send a private message to each to discuss it.

Miss you both. Fox stated surprising them, See you in Borealis.

Otter pulled the letter Fox had slipped under her door, took a picture and sent it to Rabbit via private message. She should know about Fox and maybe there was a hint in there somewhere about his hollow smile. They conversed well into the wee hours of the day before Precious took Otter's phone from her and set it on the other side of the room. Making the leap easily, the persian landed lightly despite his size onto the bed and slumped across Otter's legs. Taking the hint, she closed her eyes and slept until growlithe woke her with the sunrise.

Rabbit had already heard from Otter that she had registered a formal challenge to the Brill Harbor Gym, a tough match up despite her Persian given that the gym favored water and ice types. Knowing that Fox would be watching her first round of challenges today and tomorrow made her nervous but also filled her with a touch of fire. She would have to do well, Fox needed to know they were carrying on the legacy of only strong trainers coming from Matpa Town. The Briar Point Gym was a medley gym, one of those rare ones that had no specialty for typing. It was good for beginners as many learned from this gym to take what they were facing and turn a possible defeat into a victory.

At two forty-five in the afternoon, Rabbit approached the gym with a confident step. Haunter was floating above her, refusing like most days to return to his pokeball. His lighthearted antics made her smile leaving her little strength to scold the incorrigible Pokémon, truth be told the humor of her haunter gave her strength. If he wasn't worried going into this match, then she wouldn't either. As she approached the main entrance to the gym were four pillars each with a large rectangular plaque. Going over the names, she found the one she was looking for; running her fingers over Fox's name left her brimming with pride. She took a picture of it and posted it to the group chat with a smiley face in the subject line. She took a deep breath and stepped through the doors.

Otter had been sitting in the common room where the main television was and tuned it in to the channel that would have Rabbit's match on it. Eevee, was curled on her lap, growlithe at her feet and Precious occupying the couch alongside her. They were ready to see her friend in action.

Knock'em dead Rabbit. A message from Fox surprised her as he had not lately, been directly messaging either of them.

Thanks Fox, just you watch and see what my team can do. Rabbit responded with confidence.

Prove it.

Rabbit intended to do so, her haunter set a hand on her shoulder as they walked through the doors. The funny faces he had been making before they walked in left his face as they walked in front of the cameras.

"Miss Rabbit, any words you would like to share with the viewing audience before you go forth onto the preliminary fields?" A reporter shoved a microphone in her face.

"I only have words for two people, my close friends from back home also on journeys of their own; I am at my best and getting better thanks to you both." Rabbit took the intrusion in stride. Before they entered the doors, haunter gave the reporter a mean look that terrified the man.

"There you have it folks, Rabbit of Matpa Town with her haunter loyally at her side. From here we'll pass you over to Frank alongside the preliminary field. Frank, how are things in there?" the reporter struggled to regain his composure after what was inflicted on him by that Pokémon.

"Thanks Joe, keeping this short, I just want the folks at home to know the tension in the air is palpable. We have the first of the Gym Leader's students, by appearances I would say that's Ghoti, already on the field watching Rabbit approach. Her haunter appears to be mocking the student and making some rather colorful gestures that we can't exactly focus on. Let's turn this over to our ring side cameras." Frank was excited to witness this match up. Medley Gyms were, in his opinion, the most exciting fights to witness. Monotype gyms lacked the sometimes explosive adaptability of Poly type gyms.

"I trust you to make the best decision on when but we should surprise the opponent with a sucker punch to catch him off guard, incapacitate him and then we'll drop the boom. Sound good?" Rabbit whispered quietly to her haunter who growled in agreement.

"Challenger, I appreciate that you showed up early. Do you require time still to prepare or shall we begin?" Ghoti asked politely.

"Ghoti, sir, with due respect I would like to begin the match." Rabbit kept her manners in place knowing that others had gotten disqualified from the match for conduct unbecoming of a Pokémon trainer.

"Fantastic news, then allow me to send out my first Pokémon," Ghoti smiled before releasing a charmeleon onto the field. The field itself was standard low cut grass with no terrain advantages, "As this is a medley gym, if you win the first match of this round then you may choose what the terrain changes to. You may also choose to keep the terrain the same, any questions?"

"No, sir, I am ready to start." Rabbit hadn't thought about terrain advantages and definitely not how to capitalize on them.

"Will your haunter be your first Pokémon to start with then?" Ghoti asked.

"Yes sir, haunter, will you please go down to the field and face your opponent?" Rabbit always tried to keep her tone polite with her Pokémon. It kept them happy and respecting her as a trainer. Haunter patted her on the shoulder before drifting down onto the field.

"Aside from the terrain rules already stated by Ghoti, the rules are the standard three versus three singles match. First person with all three Pokémon knocked out loses the match. Ghoti at the ready? Rabbit at the ready?" The referee shouted, his voice echoing across the ring.

Rabbit and Ghoti nodded, while their Pokémon waited underneath the lifted trainer boxes. The referee dropped the flag and the match began. Haunter's right hand vanished and struck from up out of the charmeleon's shadow in a wicked sucker punch. He tumbled back from the impact to his jaw, the flame on his tail scorching the grass. Haunter's hand drifted back to him and he used it to make a taunting face at the charmeleon. Rabbit giggled at her Pokémon's antics and the haunter looked up, happy to hear his trainer's appreciation.

The charmeleon let out a burst of flame that haunter easily dodged continuing to frustrate his opponent with the faces he was pulling. Haunter's hands swirled around like a small tornado around the charmeleon, disorienting him before they came to a stop in front of the Pokémon's face. Holding up a finger on each hand, they began wagging back and forth like a metronome, his eyes glowing. The charmeleon's eyes began to droop as the hypnosis took hold; when haunter stopped the other Pokémon was wavering on his feet, barely staying upright. Haunter drew back and between his hands an orb of dark energy coalesced before striking the charmeleon. Ghoti withdrew his Pokémon as the charmeleon fell, haunter swooped up towards Rabbit.

"Well done haunter, are you up for another match?" Rabbit asked scratching under his chin. Haunter responded by returning to the battle field and making a rude gesture at Ghoti. "Sorry! I have no idea where he picked that up."

"All lies well; it is refreshing to see a Pokémon show such bravado for their trainer." Ghoti smiled before sending out an exeggutor.

The referee dropped the flag to start the match and exeggutor started immediately firing a barrage of shocking psychic energy. Haunter dodged most of the storm, but a few of the psychic shards grazed his gaseous form, momentarily disrupting his hold on this dimension. The smirk on his face replaced with a grimace as his eyes took on a harsh and serious edge.

Otter recoiled at the terrible look the haunter was giving the exeggutor. She shivered despite not being on the receiving end of that look. Rabbit and her haunter were doing well, but with a psychic type on the field the match was uncertain. Otter's friend had once proposed that since ghost types potentially came from another dimension their energies were linked with every other ghost type Pokémon. In this matter, it was probable that what one ghost Pokémon knew so too would the others.

Haunter turned back to his trainer and mimed putting his fingers in his ears, Rabbit took the hint and put her fingers in her ears. Ghoti seeing Rabbit plugging her ears did the same. The camera man looked at his crew team.

"Cut the sound, cut the sound and plug your ears!" Frank shouted at the team. If the trainers were plugging their ears, then they needed to as well.

Otter watched as haunter swelled up and then in a wordless tune began to sing. Exeggutor had no means to guard itself from the song filled with negative energy. Otter knew the song without hearing, it was sometimes heard by travelers in untenable locations leaving them to perish if they didn't flee the opposite direction. Haunter finished his song and the trainers on the field unplugged their ears. Ghoti withdrew his exeggutor and the referee called it a win in Rabbit's favor. She needed to win the next match fast, if she kept haunter out any longer he would fall victim to his own song. Haunter recognized this as well and when Ghoti sent out golduck, he barely waited for the flag to drop before he launched a flurry of punches that drew the electricity from the lights around the field. Golduck couldn't withstand the onslaught and Ghoti was forced to withdraw the Pokémon before it got injured. Haunter waited long enough for the match to be called before he fled to his pokeball.

"Well done haunter, I'm proud of you." Rabbit whispered to the ball.

"That was an amazing match Rabbit, I've never been so thoroughly beaten like that before. Your haunter is an astounding specimen. You have half an hour to prepare for the next match and you will find it harder to run only one Pokémon per match. Please, select the field you wish to battle on next and then proceed along the marked route towards it" Ghoti commended her.

On the west coast, Otter breathed a sigh of relief. Even though Rabbit and her haunter had been confident in that match, she had worried about them especially with the exeggutor that had come out. Perish song and thunder punch though, that had been unexpected and certainly seemed to solidify Rabbit's theory that a ghost type that shared essence with other ghost types could use moves from different species of ghost. The people of Merifos knew that other regions had different Pokémon and sometimes its trainers went far out into the world, not satisfied with their own region though that was on their own dime as the government stipends only worked within the country of origin.

I think you might be right Rabbit. Otter sent into the group chat knowing Rabbit couldn't check her phone till after.

Rabbit felt her phone buzz but that would have to wait until later. Haunter was back in his pokeball and theoretically once the Pokémon was back in, the effects of perish song would fade. She flipped through the arena options that were listed, only a couple of them aside from this one were viable options. One in particular gave her an idea and she selected the field. This should help continue her original plan. A yellow path lit up and she followed the trail until she came to the next arena. The drone of fans and the incessant heat struck her life a physical weight. Rabbit could handle this and so too could her Pokémon. Massive dunes had built up in the desert arena and the winds from the multitude of fans drove the sands in an airborne current throughout the field. Rabbit could barely see the field or the other trainer's box across the way and the heat from the lamps above was already causing beads of sweat to form upon her brow.

The camera crew had followed and set up in specialized press event areas around the arena. Frank was getting ready to speak into the microphone as his sound team finished their work trying to filter out the worst of the noise.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can see behind me the challenger has chosen a rather unorthodox field for a starting trainer but as we saw in that last match; Rabbit and her Pokémon are strong enough to handle anything. The question we have now is whether or not Rabbit will voluntarily continue to only use one Pokémon for each set of three matches or if her opponent can cause a big enough upset to force her hand. The next student, Mina, is getting set up and organizing her pokeballs on the tray. Despite the heat, she appears to be cool and determined not to have her match go the way Ghoti's did. Let's turn our attention to the field and see how this goes. For our viewers just now joining us, the last round can be viewed in its entirety up on our website." Frank rattled off, he never needed any Teleprompters and his bosses let him run with whatever came to mind as it kept the home audience coming back.

Like Mina, Rabbit was organizing her trio of Pokémon; haunter was not in the grouping though he most likely would be for the next round. There was still five minutes before the match began and she took the time to whisper encouragements to her Pokémon. The pokeballs rattled lightly in acknowledgement. The last few minutes came to an end in an agonizing crawl. The referee made his announcement of the rules before dropping his flag.

Mina eyed her opponent from across the way, the only information made public to other trainers about each other was their starting Pokémon and Rabbit had a squirtle who should still be in the late stages of its maturation from squirtlehood into wartortledom. Even if she placed that out in response, she was still confident that she could overpower the water type even if she led with a fire type. With that in mind, she let magmar loose into the arena and waited to see that sweet glimmer of doubt appear on Rabbit's face, which never happened as Rabbit smiled and let out a Pokémon Mina never would have expected her to have tamed. An onix of immense proportions coiled in front of Rabbit and gave a stentorian bellow that seemed to hush the drone of the fans, albeit temporarily. Magmar inhaled deeply and spewed a large blossom of flame from across the arena. Onix burrowed into the sand in an effort to dodge the fire and only its vanishing tail tip received any contact from the flame. The arena rumbled as onix burrowed his way deeper into the sand before approaching his opponent from below.

"Folks, this is a pleasant surprise, Rabbit's strategy might mean that the unbeatable magmar that we have seen so far may finally have met her match. This is an exciting time to be tuned in to the Trainer News Network folks. Stay glued to whatever you're watching this from, Mina is in for a rocky ride." Frank whispered into his microphone quietly while never taking his eyes off the field. The rumbling settled and everyone held their breath in anticipation. The ground beneath magmar gave way into a deep conical pit. Onix had entombed the magmar in the sand pit and it struggled to get loose, any attempts to climb only sent the sand beneath its feet and claws crumbling, sweeping the magmar down back towards the center of the pit.

Onix burst from the wall of the pit in a sweeping motion that caught the magmar with the harsh stone edge of his horn and with a twisting motion assisted the other Pokémon with its escape from the pit. Magmar was launched high into the air with the impact and onix slipped back underground. The Pokémon had passed the peak of its ascent and magmar was soon on its way back down. Onix however did not give it the opportunity, he burst forth from the ground like a gyarados from the sea and with fearsome jaws closing tight on magmar carried it back underground. Sand burst in explosions across the arena as magmar tried to break free and the eruptions of sand soon began to falter until they stopped completely. The rumbles that had been shaking the arena stopped leaving the spectators apprehensive. Rabbit despite her confidence in onix was concerned, doubly so when magmar's clawed hand rose from the ground before dragging itself from the stand, it breathed heavily and onix poked the first three segments of his body out of the sand. Magmar took a deep breath and shot a blast of fire at onix but it splashed harmlessly off of the immense Pokémon. His tail lashed out from the sand catching the magmar heavily in the chest and flinging it back towards its trainer. Magmar tried to rise but with trembling limbs barely supporting it, magmar could not.

Mina withdrew her Pokémon and her hands hovered over her remaining pokeballs considering the next possible option. She hadn't wanted to play her trump card this early but with an onix of this caliber her hand was forced. Mina released a venusaur from an old looking pokeball. Immense in stature, as big if not bigger than Fox's, clearly this was a Pokémon that had experienced much, possibly even being passed down in the family.

Rabbit gave onix a whistle that would let him know what her orders were. It was just loud enough that it would resonate in the onix's body. With no visible ears, onix relied on vibrations to hear and experience the world as the species spent a long time underground rarely surfacing. A task that had been herculean for Rabbit to accomplish, not many trainers had an onix because of the nature of the beast. Rumbling in agreement, onix swept back underground recognizing the danger. The venusaur shook gruffly as leaves drifted down from her stem and flower, vines shot searchingly into the ground looking for onix. Trying to escape from the groping vines onix pushed to the outer edges of the arena. More vines spread out from venusaur, circular around her, at least twenty feet. Onix circled out of her reach contemplating his next move, the horn on his head jutting above the sand before it sunk suddenly out of sight. He struck quickly from under the grasping vines, his jaws catching the underbelly of the venusaur tossing her into the air, yanking the vines from the sand. Thick orange spoors shook loose from the flower in a dense blanket that coated the onix and filled the nooks and crannies of the joints in his serpentine body. Paralyzed he could barely move as the venusaur landed heavily and unscathed but for the scrape from the jaws of onix. Venusaur lashed out with thick vines coated in a caustic sap that left divots in onix's body. Rabbit's Pokémon bellowed in pain and trembled as he tried to get away from the furious attack.

She withdrew him before onix was injured further; angry at the onslaught, Rabbit took a deep breath before selecting her next Pokémon. Ponyta came onto the field from her trainer's side of the arena, azure mane flowing in the cross breeze from the fans. If Rabbit could have stopped and taken a picture of her Pokémon in that moment, she would have such was the picturesque nature of the proud stance ponyta had. Ponyta was growing taller, requiring Rabbit to place an effort into climbing aboard. The horn had begun growing and a nub was seen breaking through on her forehead.

Rabbit gave a different whistle and ponyta's fire spread down from her mane and dripping from her hooves. The Pokémon charged the venusaur, dodging the whipping vines easily. Sprinting rapidly around Mina's Pokémon, a fiery dervish began to spin around the venusaur. Drawing the circle tighter and tighter as ponyta ran, the fire blazed and the other Pokémon had kept her vines in tight but was trapped in the vortex of flame. The terrified groan from venusaur escaped the attack but with the flames rising around her, Mina could not aim and return her Pokémon to the pokeball. From here, ponyta knew what to do, they had worked on this. Breaking off from the ensnaring assault, the speedy horse Pokémon coating herself with flames and charged headlong into against the flank of venusaur. The fire splashed up from the impact catching the flower ablaze. Venusaur screamed and Mina withdrew her, Rabbit's opponent looked furious as she had no other choice but to use her last Pokémon; if she did though, her hitmonchan could wind up in the same condition or worse.

"I concede the battle to Rabbit, she is the victor in this match." Mina raised her hand attracting the referee's attention.

"Mina, what are you doing, this was not how I should have won the match." Rabbit was outraged having been denied a complete victory.

"As Ghoti said about your haunter, so too shall I say about your other Pokémon. They are well trained and raised well. In the event I won, I would be remiss to see agony upon your face as you worried if you could have served your Pokémon better. Ergo, I yield." Mina softened as she spoke to Rabbit with a sad smile. "Take the victory, part of a Pokémon battle are the mind games one wages against their opponent. Break their morale and you have ensured the win; now please, excuse me, I must attend to my Pokemons' wounds. Select your next field, you have forty-five minutes to prepare for your coming match."

Mina left through a door behind the opposing trainer box after collecting her pokeballs from the tray. Rabbit thought through the Pokémon that were well and capable of handling the next match. She sighed, haunter would need to play an active part; if Mina hadn't forfeited Rabbit had little inclination as to what her next Pokémon could have been and there were no guarantees it would be something her ponyta or nidoran could have handled.

"In a stunning upset that is sure to be cause for reproach from the gym leader, Mina has withdrawn from the round. Rabbit seems less than pleased by this outcome despite that she won. While she chooses the next arena, we're going to take a short break to hear a word from our sponsors." Frank slumped the moment the cameras were no longer than him, in his suit the temperature in this arena was torturous and yet the girl from Matpa Town was showing little to no effects from it.

Otter frowned at the news reporter, either he had never taken the option of a Pokémon journey or he had enough money people would take a dive just to receive a cut from the bookies when they lost. She knew why Rabbit was upset, though that was something she always seemed to know similar to the way Fox knew when either of them were or Rabbit regarding them. She took a moment to ensure that each of her Pokémon received some attention during the commercial break though they were barely paying attention to her. They were dozing peacefully alongside her chair in one big pile of multicolored fur.

I'm sorry about that forfeit that isn't much of a way to win but, at least you move that much closer to facing the gym leader. Otter forwarded into the group chat right as a message from Fox came in.

Proud of you, careful not to push your Pokémon too far. That's what Mina was trying to do for her team. From here on, you can handle this. We're delighted by your strength. Fox's message read, echoing Otter's sentiments partially.

Fox, where are you watching this from? Otter asked in a private message.

You would only be angrier with me if I told you. I am safe, if that is an acceptable answer. Fox kept it as ambiguous as possible without outright lying to his childhood friend.

I suppose that is only fair, thank you for showing Rabbit that you watched her match. It means the world to us that you're still on our side. Otter watched as the typing ellipsis appeared for the better part of a minute, vanished and then reappeared with a shorter time before a response.

Try as I might, the only side I belong to is mine but I will do everything within my power or beyond to keep from failing you both. While not much, maybe I can correct past deeds.

What do you mean? Otter asked but Fox had shut down again

Otter turned her attention to the screens as the cameras transitioned to a new arena. Frank was sweating in his suit and there was a grim satisfaction to see the normally unflappable reporter cracking around the edges from the arenas Rabbit had picked. The cameras had panned out to show a forest habitat and while not dense enough to prohibit filming the foliage was enough to provide an ample amount of coverage. Given which Pokémon Rabbit had left, this would be a solid advantage that she could exploit. Her team could handle this easily if she continued to approach this with a level head.

Rabbit climbed into the trainer box exhausted and worn out, this day had been a rollercoaster. The last match specifically had weighed heavily on her heart and she was ready to be done for the day. With the forest arena, while her opponent would be unable to see what Pokémon was thrown down as the only viable views were from the flanks of the arenas where the camera crews were already stationed. This tableau would be won entirely on the trust that the trainers' Pokémon could operate independent from their trainer's commands. Rabbit was setting her pokeballs down upon the tray when her opponent walked into the opposite box. The arena was set up with the trainer boxes set high above the treetops and clearings where Pokémon could be removed dotted the forest.

Thankfully the gym leader had already offered to allow her a day of rest to let her Pokémon recuperate despite the original schedule. This also meant that Rabbit could watch Otter's rounds tomorrow without worrying about being late, though that might have had something to do with the news producer contacting the gym's public relations department. Either way she was grateful for the reprieve and would spend it wisely, there would be enough time for Rabbit to spend on onix with the cleansing oil after that spore cloud.

There would be no opportunity to choose her Pokémon based on what the student opposite her sent out. They would throw down and hope for the best. Given the distance between them, the trainer's name popped up on the touch screen next to the pokeball tray. Rabbit's opponent, Horace, was the man who the gym would be turned over to when the gym leader finally retired. Daunting though that was, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve; there were a handful of creeks that ran through the forest. Rabbit could see them from where she was and one of the clearings was near one. Haunter's pokeball shook on the tray the red light flashing despite him not being a freshly caught Pokémon. Despite that her opponent might see, Rabbit released him low in the box. Apparently understanding the need for discretion, the haunter stayed low out of visible sight.

"You alright there?" Rabbit crouched low, the warning indicator that the match would soon be under way chimed on the speakers alongside the screen. In response haunter patted her knee and tapped himself back into his pokeball. The other pokeballs shook as well and Rabbit let the others out to check on as well. Each one, once comforted returned happily to their pokeballs.

Having some trouble with your Pokémon? Horace sent a message on the tablet.

I was just giving them one more once over making sure they were ready for this. Rabbit explained politely, omitting that the first Pokémon had let himself out of his pokeball.

If you're that worried about them getting hurt, you could still forfeit the match and challenge us when you're stronger. Horace offered.

And miss the opportunity to see my Pokémon succeed? No, that is not an option any of us will pursue. Rabbit declared.

Suit yourself, are you ready to begin?

In response she flagged the referee and raised her hand giving the signal that they were ready on Rabbit's side of the field. Across the arena, Horace did the same. The referee went over the rules once more before dropping his flag to begin the match. A beam of light could be seen from Horace arcing into one of the clearings near to his box, Rabbit sent out nidorino; it had surprised her at how quickly the little Pokémon was going through his maturation phase. After doubling in size in the week after she sent the selfie to Otter and Fox, Rabbit decided to do more research on nidoran as she hadn't really planned on including one on her team but the little Pokémon had been too cute to pass on. It turned out that the nidoran to nidorino maturation phase only took a short amount of time and he had already been working towards it when she caught him. Despite his growth, nidorino should still be able to sneak in relatively quiet fashion.

Understanding the plan of guerrilla warfare, nidorino crept along cautiously stopping to scent the air frequently in search of his opponent. There was something close by that smelled nothing like the forest. Ears moving independently of each other, nidorino zeroed in on his opponent. Quietly he moved towards, he had already heard the whistles from his trainer asking for the utmost stealth. Sitting in a clearing, barely moving was a clefairy that was gently rocking back and forth on her paws. She was crooning a soft tune that was not imbued with any energies that would cause nidorino to hesitate his attack.

The quills on his back shot out, surrounding the clefairy with toxic spikes; moving slowly through the shadows of the undergrowth. Clefairy had turned towards where he had been and released a blast of silver energy reminiscent of the moon's light. Unable to move without grazing the poison spread across the clearing, she let out a disarming scream that hurt nidorino's ears who shook his head trying to clear the ringing in his ears. Laying his ears back, nidorino charged through the clearing with thick poison dripping from his horn. Clefairy dodged the poisonous jab dancing around the field of spikes. With a belch, nidorino let out a ball of sludge that exploded like a bomb on contact with clefairy. Stumbling from the impact, clefairy grazed one of the spikes.

With meteoric speed she lunged at nidorino, her punch catching him across the jaw. Nidorino reared back from the impact before slamming down with his horn. The poison was beginning to take its effect on clefairy, with one last effort the Pokémon hit nidorino with a final blast of that silver energy. Dealing only minor damage, the light of the attack hurt nidorino's eyes more than the blast of energy dealing any physical damage. Clefairy collapsed causing Horace to withdraw her. With blurry vision, nidorino retreated back into the shadows; he closed his eyes and let his ears tell him about his environment.

Nidorino could hear his trainer's breathing and moved back towards it. Rabbit couldn't see her nidorino and she gave a whistle inquiringly. He moved into the clearing in front of her box, opening his eyes they were still bleary and he closed them again raising his ears in acknowledgement to Rabbit. She gave a whistle again and he dropped his ears declining the option for being withdrawn. Rabbit didn't know the extent of nidorino's injuries but she trusted him. Horace sent down his replacement for clefairy and left him to his own devices.

Nidorino tested his vision noting that it was mostly clear, ears swiveling listening for an opponent but there was little sound but the rush of water off his right flank. Taking a deep breath, nidorino took in the scent of the arena noting a slight musty smell. Moving away from the smell and closer towards the water. The opponent struck quickly, wrapping around nidorino despite his barbs; arbok began squeezing tightly trying to crush him. Neither's poison affected the other and it soon became a clawing feral struggle. Biting down hard on the thick coils that had encircled him, nidorino kicked and scratched in a panicked frenzy. Arbok released nidorino before the Pokémon inflicted any serious damage.

Spewing a thick acid that ate into nidorino's skin, arbok slipped away waiting for the damage to take. Nidorino rolled around in the undergrowth and dirt trying to brush off the worst of the acid. He charged straight into the creek nearby letting the water wash off the acid. It hadn't inflicted terrible damage but it had eaten through some of his thick skin leaving nidorino itching. Crawling back onto the bank, he shook off the water before using his hearing to try and zone in on the arbok's location.

He struck quickly again, biting down onto nidorino's leg and wrapping tightly around Rabbit's Pokémon. Nidorino bit down hard on the coils and neither Pokémon wanted to let go of the other. Nidorino's jaws were tight just under arbok's hood and arbok's coils were tight. Breathing was a struggle for both Pokémon and their grips soon loosened on each other. Collapsing where they stood, neither made it back to a clearing. The referee called both Pokémon unable to battle having access to multiple camera feeds in the forest itself which was being sent back to the viewers but not to the trainers. The match was paused as the boxes were lowered and the trainers ran out to collect their Pokémon. Their grips on each other had diminished when they had both blacked out from lack of oxygen making it easier for Rabbit and Horace to disentangle their Pokémon from each other.

"These two are covered in wounds, that arbok of yours didn't give my nidorino an easy fight in the slightest." Rabbit complimented Horace as she extricated nidorino from the last coil of arbok.

"And yet, somehow my arbok still got the worst of it. Shallow puncture wounds from the barbs, scratches all over him and this bite up by his cowl. He won't be in fighting shape for a few days at the least. Though to be fair, I doubt your nidorino will be ready to face the gym leader. Shall we head back to the boxes and continue this match?" Horace gestured back towards where she had come from.

"Please, I would enjoy that." Rabbit hadn't returned nidorino and instead was cradling him carefully; the physical contact was a comfort and let her know that despite the wounds he had received, the tenacious Pokémon was still breathing.

The two trainers went back to their boxes and Rabbit set nidorino carefully on the bench next to her. Before they started the match back up, she spread some antibacterial ointment on as many of his wounds as possible. Despite the Pyrrhic victory, she was up two to one and could pull this win off. The referee began the match once more and Rabbit sent down her wartortle, the ears and tail had finally finished coming in and squirtle had finally shed the last of his baby stage. Immediately he went straight for the creek and slipped into the water to take as much advantage of the field as possible. The dark coloration of his shell blended with the riverbed and he moved languidly along. Horace had a guess as to what Pokémon would have been in her line up and had adjusted accordingly. His Pokémon went straight for the creek that cut through the forest arena and electabuzz sent a current of electricity racing into the water. Wartortle though not in the immediate vicinity felt the change of water coming and leapt out of the water before it hit. Electabuzz had already been charging for where he suspected his opponent would come from the water. With a punch filled with electricity he struck the wartortle in the belly, the arcs potent on the damp opponent. Before he fell from the punch, electabuzz amplified the static in the air and dropped a bolt of lightning onto wartortle. When the wartortle dropped, he walked straight to the nearest clearing and dropped him in full sight of his trainer before melting back into the woods. Rabbit was furious at the smug approach of the electabuzz and the careless way he dropped her Pokémon. She recalled wartortle and picked up haunter's pokeball.

"I hope you're ready for this haunter, we have an electabuzz on the field who just felled wartortle quite possibly in two or three hits." The pokeball shook in her hand and she sent the ghost type down into the field.

Flitting up into the dark shade of the tree tops haunter moved cautiously, became intangible and passing through an object if it would give away his position. He came across the electabuzz near the water's edge and like with the charmeleon, he sent his fist into the shadows to sucker punch the enemy. Electabuzz took the attack on the chin though it barely seemed to register with him that he had just been struck. An arc of electricity shot from his antenna and swept through the treetops. Setting fires in the trees from the heat of the electricity the attack missed but forced haunter to come down to electabuzz's level. His body expanded and he shot a toxic ball of gunk at electabuzz trying to poison him. Avoiding the attack, electabuzz charged for haunter who fled intangibly through the trees as his opponent crashed through the woods in an attempt to attack him. Plotting his next move against the aggressive electabuzz, haunter summoned a ghostly gob of shadowy energies that blasted from between his hands and struck electabuzz in the chest forcing it to stop his advance.

With hands shooting off independent of haunter's main body he gripped the arms of electabuzz and carried him above the tree line. His gaseous clutch sending shudders through Horace's Pokémon and haunter took payback on him; an onslaught of dark energy thudding into electabuzz. Dropping Horace's Pokémon from high up, haunter watched him crash through the tree tops. A ball of shadowy energy followed the Pokémon down and struck him in a cacophonous rush. Will o wisps sped down from haunter and set the area around where electabuzz landed alight; electabuzz howled in pain and despite everything still tried to catch haunter with a bolt of lightning but the ghost type just sent another shadow ball down. Zooming down in a mad loop, haunter surveyed the area and dragged the unconscious electabuzz from the flames before it got terribly hurt. The Pokémon woke and weakly threw a punch that passed right through haunter's face leaving him annoyed but unbothered by the attack. Dropping him disgustedly in a clearing by his trainer. When electabuzz was unable to stand the referee called the match.

Otter cheered loudly in her seat, startling the other trainers that had been watching the match. That had gotten close there at the end but Rabbit's haunter had pulled through for her. Otter only hoped that she had garnered enough trust from her Pokémon for them to battle that hard for her. Precious rubbed the side of his face against her leg purring loudly as if reading her thoughts. She scratched him under his jaw the way he liked and her other Pokémon woke from their naps on her feet as if sensing Precious was getting more attention. Otter laughed as eevee and growlithe climbed into her lap. Laughing she stood up beckoning them to follow her and she left back to her room so she could let Lapras out into the pool. Along the way she texted Rabbit.

Amazing round, that team of yours is something else. I can't wait to see how much they've grown when we meet up in Borealis. Otter grinned at her phone thinking happily of when the three of them would meet up together despite where Fox's life had taken him.

Rabbit felt her phone buzz once more and after speaking with Horace, she left to go take care of her Pokémon. After being stopped by the gym leader on the way out, she made her way to the Pokémon center to deal with the worst of her Pokémon's injuries. They had the brush and oils to clean up onix and with haunter's help Rabbit could get the great stone beast clean in half the time. They couldn't leave him as he was overnight, and soon she was running to the Pokémon center. Rabbit would have taken ponyta but she was worried about stressing her when she had just worked hard in a match. After leaving everyone except haunter with the nurse, she handed her government stipend card over and received the oils and brushes necessary for onix.

Rabbit and haunter went out into the vast yard out back of the Pokémon center. Onix was released and the thick spore still coated his entire body. Opening the first of the five gallon drums, she began scrubbing down her Pokémon. The onix grumbled happily as the thick copper brushes got to work clearing the mess of spore off him. Rabbit sang to onix as her and haunter began working from the head down. Haunter was able to get into the narrower cracks that Rabbit couldn't quite reach and on the sections Rabbit wasn't tall enough to stretch up to.

"Excuse me, Miss?" A thin reedy looking man approached them cautiously.

"Yes, may I help you?" Rabbit responded without looking up from her scrubbing.

My name is Professor Shadbush; I believe you're the student that was coming to see me in Briar Pointe." He introduced himself, "May I assist you with your onix? He is a remarkable specimen, at least ten or fifteen feet over the average and despite that fine haunter of yours an extra set of hands is going to be needed."

"Oh! Yes, Rabbit Lagom, thank you Professor. Please take a brush we have a lot of work ahead of us." She gestured to the brushes and the oil.

"I saw your haunter fight, that was remarkable and I've never seen a haunter sing like that." The Professor extolled happily.

"I believe, in theory at least, ghost type Pokémon share an essence with all ghost type Pokémon. If they are compatible, then they can draw on moves other Pokémon from their 'family grouping' know; at least I think that might be how it works since we haven't seen Pokémon of their type breeding." Rabbit thought about that song and trying to understand how it all worked.

"The energies that make up these "ghost types" as everyone like to call them are unlike anything in our world. It is entirely probable that is the case regarding moves not ordinarily found in species like the gengar maturation line. I have not exactly had the best of luck in catching wild ghost types, the day after you face the gym leader come by the lab. We can get both your haunter and you familiarized with the equipment. Think of it, if we crack this, we'll be famous; what we learn could revolutionize travel both globally and even interstellar." Professor Shadbush was talking animatedly.

They conversed well into the evening though most of that was spent working on onix as venusaur had done an outstanding job coating the massive Pokémon. It was one of the few moments that Rabbit almost regretted having tamed the largest onix she could find. Haunter was shy at first around Professor Shadbush but began warming up to him and by the time they finally finished cleaning onix, haunter was showing an interest in the professor.

"Thank you for the assistance, and onix is grateful for it as well." Rabbit watched as the nudge from onix nearly knocked the professor over.

"It was my pleasure, I knew I picked the right trainer to share my studies and findings with. You said you had tomorrow off from the gym and you were going to watch your friend's match tomorrow, the matches don't start till the afternoon, why not come by the lab in the morning; we can get started on getting you acquainted with the lab." The Professor asked giving onix's massive jaw a quick scratch with a clean wire brush.

"If we could, I would appreciate that immensely; Briar Pointe University building eight, correct?"

"Right on one, come by around ten, you do need some semblance of sleep and breakfast."

"Thank you Professor, I will see you then." Rabbit waited till after Professor Shadbush had gone in and away from the windows before she danced a happy jig with haunter, "Onix, time for you to rest, I want you all in tip top shape for the battle to come."

"We have footage from Otter's warm up matches in the park and of course we recorded Rabbit's preliminary rounds. Those girls have garnered a lot of respect from their Pokémon, do you think maybe we should invite them?"

"No, absolutely not Hank, I want to keep them out of all that we have become." Fox shook his head, having the girls join him was something he never hoped to see.

"I will respect your decisions but what if they're targeted by them?" Hank had shed his smelly, drunken hobo look and was actually looking somewhat presentable.

"I intend for them to be gone before that happens." Fox's demeanor from watching the matches changed swiftly.

"Yes but what if they do get targeted by them before then?" Hank tried to keep this messed up world in perspective.

"Then we will burn every last one of their homes to the ground until nothing is left but ashes." Fox said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, calm down boss, I understand it was just a thought. Have we had any word from our spies regarding their movements?" Hank asked trying to find out more about what was going on.

"The Prophets of Renewal are heading in to Briar Pointe, I don't understand why but they're going after Professor Shadbush's research."

"That's where Rabbit is going after the match against the gym leader; aren't you concerned for her safety?" Hank pressed.

"As you said, she's going after she fights the gym leader. Zeke is heading in with his team tomorrow morning to keep them from getting his research."

Ponyta's hooves clattered down the street as Rabbit sped through the quiet morning. She was earlier than the Professor had asked but she figured the sooner they got started on the research the better. When Rabbit approached the university she undid the saddle and tucked it under her arm. Withdrawing ponyta afterwards, she let haunter loose and they walked together looking for building eight. The building was in the back corner of the university and it was a long walk from the front entrance of the campus. The laboratory was unlocked which wasn't surprising but the disorganized array of the front room made her pause. Haunter growled and pushed ahead of Rabbit, taking the lead. They pushed further in finding complex machinery and folders strewn about. A pair of men were looking through a cabinet with their backs to her, haunter growled and made as if to threaten them but Rabbit whispered quietly at him. They moved on finding Professor Shadbush in his office. A deep gash in his chest welled up slowly and he was already fading fast.

"You're early, Miss Lagom, I like…that in my students. A shame…now though, you should run before they find you." Professor Shadbush muttered weakly.

"We can get you help, stop talking." Rabbit felt tears welling up.

"Sorry, it's too late for me, top right drawer. The…cabinets they're out there going through…they won't find anything there. All my work is in that file and on that drive…get out of here." Professor Shadbush raised his hand, weakly pointing at his desk before his hand dropped.

Rabbit moved to the desk, careful not to step in the pool. She dialed emergency services, collecting the items from the drawer. After describing the emergency to the operator she hung up and haunter bobbed by her shoulder. She opened the door to find both of the thieves walking up to the office surreptitiously.

"Well, look what we have here, a witness; you know what we do with witnesses Brother Aldus."

"The same treatment the Professor got for trying to stop us Brother Remus." Brother Aldus said, reaching into his jacket for a pokeball.

Haunter gave a sound that Rabbit had never heard him make. His hands expanded and pushed both of them away from his trainer. Grabbing tightly onto Aldus and Remus, haunter expanded larger than Rabbit thought him capable. Brother Aldus before he could get a hand free, was jammed into haunter's gaping maw and with a gulp he was gone. The Pokémon's form began rippling and convulsing but his jaws opened wide pulling Brother Remus within before closing. His form stopped rippling and as Rabbit watched a full body coalesced completing his maturation into gengar. She didn't have time to register this new shock as an abra appeared towing a man along with.

Gengar levitated in front of Rabbit protectively snarling fiercely. The man paid no attention to either of them, looking around. He wandered out to where the other two had been rummaging. Seeing nothing of interest there, he made his way back towards the office.

"The Professor didn't make it; I presume?" Zeke asked

"No, I already called emergency services they're on the way." Rabbit explained.

"That complicates things a little bit but no matter, we can handle this." Zeke grumbled and Abra floated behind the man, waiting to see what else his trainer needed. Zeke let out a magmar and a charizard as he walked away. "Girls, torch the place, leave nothing behind."

Gouts of flame spewed from both Pokémon and the place went up quickly, such was the heat of their fire. Gengar and Rabbit shied away from the dancing flames and stepped back into the office. They closed the door trying to put something between them and the fires, there was too much out there for her to even try to send wartortle out. It was too risky and he could get hurt. It would be better to try and ride out till the emergency services got there. Most offices here were fire rated.

"We can't leave anything behind; charizard and magmar, this office too. Burn everything and then, abra, we're out of here." Zeke could be heard through the door.